The Army Painter and Trench Crusade unveil Carcass Front at AdeptiCon 2026
The first shared stage for The Army Painter and Trench Crusade put Carcass Front front and center, with a $129.99 starter and faction paint sets built for the game’s grimdark look.
The first real joint reveal from The Army Painter and Trench Crusade used AdeptiCon 2026 to make one thing clear: this is no longer just a cult Kickstarter with strong art, it is becoming a supported hobby line with a paint plan attached. Trench Crusade brought the announcement to the show in March, alongside a seminar with The Army Painter and Mike Franchina, signaling that the collaboration is being treated as a long-term launch platform rather than a one-off preview.
That matters because Trench Crusade has already proved it can draw an audience. The game calls itself a skirmish-scale tabletop miniatures game set in a horrifying alternate timeline of WW1, and its 2024 Kickstarter funded far beyond expectations. The campaign page now shows more than 20,000 backers and more than $3.3 million pledged, a scale that explains why a major paint brand is stepping in. The Army Painter had also signaled interest early, when lead product developer Thomas said the company was already taken with the artwork as soon as the Kickstarter went live.
The biggest practical reveal was Carcass Front, which Trench Crusade describes as a starter set and supplement box. It is built to pull new players in cleanly, with a campaign book, introductory rules, dice and rulers, playsheets, maps, and score pads for map-based campaigns. The box also includes two complete warbands, the Heretic Naval Raiders and the Procession of the Sacred Affliction, plus terrain pieces. Retail listings have pushed the picture further, identifying 16 hard-plastic miniatures, a 96-page campaign and rule book, a $129.99 MSRP, and a July 29, 2026 release date.
For painters, the most useful part of the reveal was the Crusade Se7en paint line. The first set shown was tied to the Prussian Stosstruppen, with muddy browns, drab greens, and dark metallics aimed straight at the Free State of Prussia look. The Army Painter said the sets use seven Warpaints Fanatic colors and pull from both the John Blanche Masterclass and Historical ranges, while its Academy material has already framed the Blanche palette as a strong fit for Trench Crusade’s grim, grimy, dark atmosphere.
That gives readers a direct buying signal. Carcass Front is being paced as a larger reveal campaign, with miniatures already teased separately, and the paint sets point to how the game wants armies to look on the table: steel, faith, fury, and mud rather than bright faction contrast. With future Crusade Se7en sets planned for the Heretic Naval Raiders and the Pilgrims of the Sacred Affliction, and with Trench Crusade also launching the Crimson Chalice painting competition this year, the crossover now has the kind of product support that can shape army choices before the first box even ships.
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